Pfizer got into the low-profile, low-profit vaccine field in 2009 when it acquired Wyeth and its then-experimental pneumococcal vaccine. That vaccine, Prevnar, which protects against ear, bloodstream and other pneumococcal infections, was approved by the US the following year. It became the world's most lucrative vaccine with annual sales of about US$5 billion — once unheard of.
"Investors were sceptical of the Wyeth acquisition because vaccines were a sleepy area with lots of risk and rarely enough profit to justify spending money on them. Pfizer proved them wrong," said Erik Gordon, a business professor at the University of Michigan.
Pfizer began developing more vaccines and building up expertise. Then in 2018 it began a partnership with BioNTech focused on creating a flu vaccine with a then-new technology called mRNA for short. This vaccine type uses genetic material rather than an inactivated virus to teach the immune system to produce antibodies if the real virus infects someone.
But while the flu vaccine was still in testing, the coronavirus hit and the companies turned on a dime to use the technology for a vaccine against it. Their vaccine has proven to be more than 90 per cent effective and has rapidly won emergency approval in country after country while avoiding the manufacturing delays and safety questions stinging some rivals.
"Partnering with BioNTech was a stroke of genius or of good luck," Gordon said.
Now the partners are testing a potential booster shot, and they continue to test the two-dose shot in new patient groups, including pregnant women, 12- through 15-year-olds and children from six months to 11 years old. They're also working on new vaccines formulations with a longer shelf life and less stringent requirements for deep freezing.
Pfizer also is testing both a pill and a different drug that's injected as COVID-19 treatments.
Pfizer, which splits vaccine costs and profit with BioNTech, reported US$3.46 billion in first-quarter sales in all but three countries; BioNTech will report the remaining revenue on May 10.
Some patient advocacy and consumer groups now accuse COVID-19 vaccine makers of profiteering as they've only pledged to stick to nonprofit prices until the pandemic emergency ends. Some want patents suspended to enable poor countries to get cheaper vaccines sooner.
On a conference call Tuesday, Pfizer noted its three price tiers for the vaccine, depending on each country's financial situation. In the US, Pfizer charges US$19.50 for each dose, far below what Prevnar and many other vaccines cost here.
Pfizer reported quarterly net income of US$4.88 billion, or 86 cents per share, on Tuesday. That was up from US$3.36 billion, or 60 cents per share, in the same period last year, when the global coronavirus pandemic began triggering lockdowns, and doctor visits, diagnostic tests and new prescriptions for other medicines dropped significantly.
Adjusted earnings jumped 48 per cent to US$5.26 billion, or 93 cents per share, far above the 79 cents Wall Street was expecting. Revenue was US$14.58 billion, up 45 per cent and also well above forecasts of $13.49 billion.
Sales of cancer drugs jumped 18 per cent in the quarter and sales of medicines administered in hospitals rebounded 11 per cent as patients got treatments delayed by hesitance to go to hospitals swamped with COVID-19 patients. Sales of clot preventer Eliquis jumped 26 per cent to US$1.64 billion.
Pfizer now expects full-year earnings in the range of $3.55 to $3.65 per share, up from $3.10 to $3.20 per share in February, and revenue in the range of $70.5 billion to $72.5 billion, up from $59.4 billion to $61.4 billion in the February forecast.
- Associated Press
